Classification: Introduced Species - Introduced into the USA (Hawaii)

Description: Head more long than broad, oviform; snout as long as the distance between the eye and the ear-opening, one time and a half the diameter of the eye; ear-opening very small, oval, oblique. Rostral broad, nearly pentagonal; nostril bordered by the rostral, the first labial, a supranasal and two or three small scales. Eleven upper and as many lower labials; mental small, triangular; no chin-shields. Body long and slender; covered with small granular scales, those on the snout and the limbs somewhat enlarged. Limbs slender; digits very unequal, free; inner rudimentary; four pair of lamellae under the other digits. Ventral scales larger, smooth, imbricate. Male with an angular series of 15 praeanal pores. Tail cylindrical, slender, covered with small scales

Brown above, marbled with darker; a dark streak from the tip of the snout to the shoulder, passing through the eye; a series of round whitish spots beginning behind the eye and continued along each side of the body to the tail. Tail lighter brown above with two whitish elongate spots at its base, white below for two thirds of its length. Lower parts of body whitish, speckled with brown. Length of head and body 44 mm.; tail 38 mm

Habitat: This small, parthenogenic species is arboreal, nocturnal, and inhabits vegetation in mangroves, coastal, lowland and hill dipterocarp rainforests, swamps, and modified habitats such as urban areas and rural gardens. Females usually produce two eggs, typically laid beneath bark, or in some other protected places with the appropriate thermal requirements; gravid females have been observed in November in Singapore. In Fiji it has been recorded from dry forest and in the Philippines it has been recorded from various coastal habitats including mangroves and beach forest, and has also been taken from coconut plantations. This, however, reflects a tendency for local workers to refer to animals found in original forest as Hemiphyllodactylus insularis and those elsewhere as H. typus, but it's not clear that this reflects a genuine ecological difference between the two species. It has been noted that this species shelters by day in the leaf axils of Pandanus, ferns, palms and under the bark of trees.

Range: India (Shevaroy Hills, Anaimalai, Nilgiri Hills), Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Vietnam, Chapa/Tongking, Thailand, W Malaysia, Singapore, Oceania, Burma, Philippines (Panay), Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sumbawa, Komodo), China, Taiwan, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Tonga, Marquesas Islands, Society Islands, Pitcairn Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands (Vanua Levu, Viti Levu), Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues (fide F. Glaw, pers. comm.) Introduced to Ryukyu Islands (Japan), Introduced to Iriomotejima Island, Introduced into the USA (Hawaii)

Found in these States: HI

Diet: They are primarily insectivores,

Reproduction: The name Hemiphyllodactylus typus has been restricted to parthenogenetic forms although it used to contain both bisexual and unisexual populations. All other species of the genus are bisexual.

Status: Assessed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It is uncommonly recorded throughout its range but is not affected by any major threats. It inhabits a wide range of habitats including modified areas. It is also present in a large number of protected areas.

Taxonomy: